The longer I am invloved with this course, the more I learn - I guess that is what is to be expected as a student. I confess that I did not know much about distance education, DE, prior to the readings of the course, but what is happening technologically is amazing. An introduction to the second life platform extended the knowledge that I already had about avatars. I could not imagine any use for such a system in an educational setting, but it is a great way to get a student to experience something outside of their realm. One can travel to different countries, view different cultures, and experience a life outside of the one they live.
Additionally, the concept of mobile learning intrigues me. When I think of my mobile devices, I do not think of them as being used in an educational setting. I only think of them for entertainment. However, thinking outside of the box, I can see the advantges of being able to look at my coursework and other educational items on my phone or ipod. Actually, if I remember correctly, some univeresities have started to use podcasts as a way of presenting information to their students and to others that aren't their students. They have started to allow access to their lectures for anyone interested.
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Terasita:
ReplyDeleteI agree with in having a sense of amazement with the possibilities that Second Life offers for education. The limits seem to me to be time and one's imagination. We'll all need to watch to see where this goes.
I really enjoyed the honesty of your blog posts. Approximately 4 years ago I would consider myself a digital immigrant. Since then I have had numerous courses concerning the software technologies available on computers. I have been exposed to the internet/email, and had even taken numerous computer courses as part of my undergraduate minor in computer studies. Everyone I knew was downloading music, videos, movies, and it amazed me how much more computers were capable of than I had been exposed to. Nevertheless, I had minimal use of a computer in a "social" sense, for example blogging. I guess I say all this because I think we can all find ourselves feeling like a digital immigrant at times. I agree with you when you indicate in your blog that the introduction and use of second life platforms in an educational setting could possibly be a significant way to get a student to experience something outside of their realm. Even though I found that the New Life websites was very overwhelming with the new technology, I could possibly imagine being a student and trying to not only learn course material but building a community in that site. I think that is interesting.
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